DMASS starts positively Into 2016

Components distributors in Europe have continued to enjoy a healthy business for more than 2 years now. Overall macro-economic conditions seem to play only a minor role at the moment. Even currency effects, which dominated some of the growth in 2015, have been reduced to normal. The sum of all this amounts to an 8.4 percent growth in Q1/CY2016 compared to Q1/CY2015 for European Semiconductor Distribution, according to DMASS (Distributors’ and Manufacturers’ Association of Semiconductor Specialists). The quarter ended with record sales of EUR 1.93 Billion.

Georg Steinberger, chairman of DMASS: “We have, for the time being, entered a very stable market environment, with little friction from currency effects and very little effects so far from weak markets in Asia, especially China. Q1/CY16 ended surprisingly well, with 8.4% growth. After last year’s double-digit growth, we would regard this as normalization. Considering the positive booking situation, we would expect strong first half year 2016.”

Regionally, it was positive to note that Italy and Germany, the two biggest sales regions within DMASS, contributed over-proportionally to the quarterly growth. Germany ended Q1 with a plus of 11.7 percent at EUR 606 Million, Italy with a plus of 19.9 percent at EUR 198 Million. Eastern Europe continued on its long-term growth path and grew by 15.3 percent to EUR 265 Million (without Russia). The UK market suffered from its own currency problems and reported minus (-)0.4 percent decline to EUR 147 Million. France grew by 4.6 percent to EUR 144 Million and the Nordic countries experienced a comparably steep decline of 7.7 percent to EUR 163 Million.

Georg Steinberger: “The biggest surprise is certainly the resilience of the Italian distribution market. And the fact that Germany “recovered” after several quarters of sub-par performance is also a good sign. It will be interesting to see if these trends continue further into the year.”